


The Wedding

by Desmonard



Category: Runaways (Comics)
Genre: F/F, If my Victor/Chase shipping shows too much you can either ignore it or enjoy it :3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-02
Updated: 2013-02-06
Packaged: 2017-11-15 11:28:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/526798
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Desmonard/pseuds/Desmonard
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Xavin and Karo are very much in love, and yet, they're not married. But, why the hell not? Isn't it just a matter of asking? And how hard can it be to organise a wedding, when you have superpowers?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. On how Molly’s nosiness was to blame for the wedding.

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Mah FOB](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Mah+FOB), [(Si pudieramos agregar tus fanart este fic seria oficialmente perfecto)](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=%28Si+pudieramos+agregar+tus+fanart+este+fic+seria+oficialmente+perfecto%29).



> So, my first publication here.  
> Please be gentle with me, dear reader.
> 
> And let's try to revive this Runaways Fandom, 'cause it's kickass and it deserves so much more from us the fans! :3

Chase was sitting carelessly on the elegant mahogany stand Nico had magicked into existence for _the_ _occasion_. His feet dangled lightly, almost kicking Victor in the lower back. He was humming softly, looking as bored as everyone else in the room. Victor solemnly stood, very still, by the stall, trying to ignore Chase’s attempts to annoy him. He had already tried to convince, coerce and force Chase down of the stall, but it actually didn’t matter. Something told him Karo would take a long time to come down anyways.

“Ugh, what’s taking her so long?!” Molly complained visibly exasperated. She squeezed the colourful bouquet she was holding in her hands.

Klara, opposite to her, smiled and gave her a soft hush. “Shh, Karo is the bride. She needs lots of time to get ready, because she has to be perfect today.” Her smile became weary as she closed her eyes, remembering. “I was nowhere near perfect in my wedding day because everyone just wanted to get it over with. My mother said I look pretty, but I don’t think she meant it… Karo needs time, and she has all the time in the world.”

***

 “C’mon Klara! I’ve explained it like a thousand times already! Karo and Xavin are _in love_!” Molly jumped of the couch gesticulating bizarrely with her hands. She was trying (and failing) to symbolize their epic romance. Maybe that way would be more compressible for poor, old-fashioned Klara.

“But how can two women… be a couple? It’s unholy! It’s against nature’s…”

“Ow Klara!  Nature’s gotta do nothin’ with love! What’s nature gotta do with anything that happens down here?! We’re all special! And they’re aliens!” More finger-gestures and silly motions accompanied those words as Klara sunk in the couch, even more confused than before.

“Y’know, I’m not that special, Mol.” Chase’s eyes never left the wide-screen television as he casually entered the girls’ jarring conversation. He was trying to beat Victor’s offensively high score on the MK story-mode. He was failing miserably at it, but he was full of fire and hope tonight. Or so he felt. He wasn’t really achieving anything. “I’m 100% regular human. No mutant, alien, robot or witchcraft contents in me.”

“Yeah, but you’re the wild card, Chase! You are- um- _overflowing_ with potential and…uh, well, I don’t really know. Let’s say you’re a pretty decent mechanic for the Toad.” Chase paused the game for a second and gave Molly a brief death stare. Molly just grinned broadly and resumed her overzealous tale of the intergalactic sweethearts.

“Hey man, how’s it going? Given up yet, _blondo_?” Victor strutted into the room with his usual 5 o’ clock swag while eating a bowl of milky cheerio’s. He propped himself right by Chase’s side and chuckled when he was untimely defeated on screen. Again.  For the 14 th time. Chase grunted and threw the controller to the TV, missing widely.

“Don’t call me that, Magniño. You know I hate it when you speak Mexican to me.” Chase ruffled his flaxen hair and stood up sheepishly to get the control. “Bro, this damned level is impossible. How the hell did you manage to beat it?”

Victor, using his trademark _Victorious_ smug grin, laid the bowl of cereal on his lap and stretched his arms, looking triumphant and haughty. “Oh, it’s not so bad. You’re just terrible at it. Here, gimme. I’ll show you how a real fighting machine does the job.” Extending his hand up to Chase, he wiggled his fingers in a seriously twisted, almost mechanic manner, asking for the controller. Chase winced and made a vaguely sick noisy, avoiding at all costs touching Victor’s hand while he sat back in his spot.

“No thanks creep. You making robot puns of yourself plus mecha-fingers got me scared to death.” After turning on the controller, Chase continued his doomed journey. Victor watched while chewing on his extremely-late-breakfast, mildly amused by Chase’s incompetence.

“Wait, what do you mean by that, Molly?” Klara’s thin, naïve voice floated for a second before Molly’s excited yelps shun her again.

“I mean exactly that! They went to up into space together just when Victor became the new guy and they got married! In space! Isn’t that absolutely awesome?!” Molly had the tendency to get hyped up by anything, but this particular subject had her bouncing off the walls. She wasn’t a delicate, romantic girl like Klara; she fancied herself a full-on action girl. And yet the idea of a cross-species alien wedding in space seemed to turn all her girlish hormones on, at once.

Sighting, Chase had to pause the game again. “Hey Mol, get your facts straight. Karo and Xavin are not married. They couldn’t even think of their vows ‘cause their respective species are jackasses and jerkwads. Remember what they told us when they got back: they had to skip town and fast, otherwise they would’ve been caught in the middle of a nasty wedding fight.” 

“That sounds kinda cool, nasty space wedding fight…”  Victor muttered while nibbling and drinking up the last of his sweetened milk.

“Space runaway brides?! Even awesomer!” Klara looked hopeless now, completely lost between foiled space wedding and runaway brides on escape pods. Suddenly, Molly looked back at Chase, suspicious and unsure. “Hey, are you really, really sure of that runaway thing? I mean, I know Karo would know when to run and fast, but I don’t think Xavin would’ve run with being married to his bethrone… something. To Karo, married to Karo. Are you really, really, _really_ sure they didn’t like, speed-married in Space Las Vegas or in our own Earth Vegas?” With her head tilted to the left and her hands on her hips, Molly looked quite inquisitive.

“Space Las Vegas? Damn Molly, how would I know?” Chase shrugged off every ounce of responsibility he had on him. “I’m not even sure if that thing _doesn’t_ exist. Maybe it actually does. A year ago I was sure aliens were some sort of fad, and now I live with two of them. Who knows, Molly, who knows?” Chase mocked her finger-theatrics for a moment and proceeded to press play.

Victor stood up and left his bowl in the sink, stepping near the girls’ couch. “Maybe you should ask Xavin or Karo, Molly. One of them is bound to know what’s their current marital status, right?” He then paced back to where he was sitting, and openly laughed at everything Chase attempted to do. “Ay hombre, you’re not too hot tonight. Maybe you should stop. Say, wanna do a versus?”

“Blow me, Mr. Roboto.” Chase stared at the game over screen for the fifteenth time and groaned. He reached for the second controller and tossed it at Victor, even if he could’ve just handed it to him. “I’ll destroy you in the versus. Say your prayers, altar boy.”

Victor turned on his controller while tittering at those cocky words. “No you won’t, Goldie Locks. And I don’t need God to beat you; you’re awful with MK. Stick to SF, hermano, that’s your shtick. Now, prepare yourself to get your ass handed to you!” Their digital fight started as Xavin quietly walked into the room, heading for the kitchen.

Molly glanced at them unimpressed. “Wow guys, you sound really gay when you play that fighting crap. If I didn’t know better, I’d say you two married in Space Las Vegas.” She then pranced up to Skrull with a huge smile planted on her face. “Hey Xavin! Xavin, can I ask you a question? Even if it’s sort of… personal?”  Molly then gave her _the pity eyes_. She still was a little girl in most of his roommates’ minds, so she often used her pity stare to get what she wanted from them. It had started to fail with the likes of Chase and Nico, but it had a flawless record when used on Xavin.

“Um… sure Molly.” Xavin looked at her, feeling puzzled and somehow curious. No one had ever taken the time to ask her anything personal during her years on service of the Skrull Empire, and now that she was technically free, she only felt like being intimate with her beloved Karolina.

As she pronounced her brief answer to Molly, Xavin felt Klara’s stare on her; her eyes filled with doubt and speculation. That made her feel slightly uneasy. What really put her off was the sudden silence in which the room was submerged and the peeping eyes of Victor and Chase. They had yet again paused the game and were peeking just over the couch’s back, failing to conceal their snooping intentions at all. They also seemed to be chattering about. Something about bets on marriage and manually washing the winner’s laundry for a week.

Xavin found herself staring right back at the boys, looking rather bashful. Molly waved her hands before Xavin’s face, trying to get her attention back. “Xavin! Yoo-hoo! Don’t mind them; they get stupid when they play fighting things. Now, back to question…” The skrull lowered her eyes back to Molly’s reassuring smile. “So, are you and Karo, like, officially married?”

Xavin stared blankly at Molly, her lower lip trembling a little. She had never stopped to think about that or the consequences of such an act uncompleted. All of the sudden, she felt extremely irresponsible. Molly’s smile vanished. “Huh, Xavin? What’s going on? Did I say something… bad?”

“No. Don’t worry, it’s nothing. It’s got nothing to do with you.” Xavin forced a half-hearted grin to comfort the little Goliath of the house. “No, Karo and I are not married. We… couldn’t. Things happened; bad things.”

Victor covered his face with is palm noisily and Chase snickered. “You’re doing my laundry this week, Real Washing-Machine.” Victor groaned deeply and wondered why he had bet for something he almost knew wasn’t true. Xavin walked out of the living room with her hands empty and her head full of ideas. She needed to talk to Karo, she needed to ask her. But how?


	2. On how to ask the big question.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yay, Chapter 2!
> 
> No summary 'cause the title is kinda self-explanatory.

  Xavin nervously shifted her weight from one foot to the other.  She fiddled her fingers fretfully and sometimes even light one of the on fire without knowing. This was the third time it happened so close to Victor’s hand.

“Xavin! Watch it, man!” Victor backed away his hand hastily and gave a step back, getting in Chase’s kick range. The tip of Chase’s polished shoe hit Victor right in the sacrum, making him cringe again. “Ow! Stop it! Chase, get down from there!” Victor was a patient man and waiting usually wasn’t a too tough on him, but these two wrecks of people made it impossible for him to stay calm. Chase’s insufferable indolence or Xavin’s evident anxiousness were tolerable, but both combined made him lose his temper in seconds. Not even closing his eyes and trying to pray could cool him off by now.

“Whoops! Sorry Vic. Didn’t mean to do that.” Chase’s sarcasm was only too evident. He kept shuffling his feet at Victor, but he had had enough. Victor grabbed Chase by the tie and pulled him down, face first. Chase reacted quickly, as he had been expecting a retort like that for hours, and landed safe by putting his hands first, but ended up on the floor anyways after Victor’s foot stepped hard on his back, to keep him downed for a while.

“I told you to _get down_.” Victor uttered cruelly. Chase only laughed at his forced attempts to be harsh with him. On the sides, Klara and Molly had watched the whole exchange and were respectively worried and giggling. Even Xavin allowed herself to smile a bit, in her nerviness. She knew the guys were only trying to distract her, but she felt too restless to really enjoy their mock fighting.

“Oh, c’mon Vic. Don’t step on my nice suit! It’s the only one I have.” Chase struggled a bit under Victor’s moccasin and he only upped the pressure periodically, as if he was stepping repeatedly on him. “Do I have to stay down ‘til the Blushin’ Bride decides to show up? Or do I have to ask Molly to deal with you?”

“Hey, don’t pull me into your silly brawl! I’m not backing any of you, morons!” Molly exclaimed and loudly hooted. Klara finally realised it was all a joke and gladly joined in the laughing. Xavin breathed in profoundly and pursed her lips. She couldn’t join the joke. Her heart fluttered and she felt her eyes welling up with tears. She shook her head and made fists with both of her hands, which unexpectedly turned into stone for a moment. She was almost panicking.

With a thin thread of a voice, Xavin whispered: “Where is she? What is taking her so long?”

***

“There’s one thing and only one you need to know about girls. Well, humans girls, at least.”

Victor looked at Chase unimpressed. “Karo’s not human.” Chase shrugged and kept pacing around the room, in front of Victor and a very distressed Xavin. “Hmm, something tells me your love advice sucks like a vacuum, Chase, but please, do go on.”

Chase stopped for a moment and approached his Latin teammate with an arrogant expression and a bossy stance. “Oh, shut up. You’re an avid comic book reader and a robot, Victron, so don’t patronise me about relationships. I seriously doubt you had any before meeting our very own Sister Grim.”

“You take that back, pendejo!” Victor quickly grabbed Chase by the collar and stood up. Chase was already making a fist when he uttered those words; ready to punch Victor’s light out if needed. Xavin touched her temples, looking exasperated.

“Gentlemen!” Xavin’s tone was so loud and commanding that both males had to let go of each other and sat in sudden fear. Chase plopped himself on the floor so hard he let out a tiny groan of pain. “Could you please set your differences aside for a moment and just be serious? I need your help with this… this task I have upon me.”

“Sheesh, don’t call it _that_. It’s the most unattractive term I’ve heard for a marriage proposition.” Chase crossed his legs and noticed how Xavin blushed. “Say it’s your final destiny, your only wish, your greatest challenge, but not a _task_. It’s supposed to be corny, not military.”

Victor nodded. “Well, in that I agree with you Chase. But not in the first idiocy you said about girls.”

“I _wasn’t_ able to stay ‘cause you assaulted me before I could. Maybe if you’d let me finish, you’d realise it’s not so dumb. It’s what got me my girlfriend, y’know.” Xavin picked up on that last part and focused on Chase, looking eager. Victor just rolled his eyes at those cocky words.

“Please Chase, tell me your secret. I only knew Gert briefly and not too intimately, but I could tell she had a dominant character and a very self-confident demeanour. How did you ask Gertrud to marry you? And how did you get her accept?” Xavin’s voice had suddenly changed into one similar to an excited schoolgirl’s. Chase seemed stunned. Victor chuckled to himself.

“Huh, I wasn’t… We didn’t, we… Xavin! Dammit, we weren’t married! She was just my girlfriend. I mean… marriage? What?! We were minors back then! And I still am!”

“Not for long…” Victor let slide between his teeth. Chase shooed him with his hand.

“Well, that’s not the point. The thing I’ve being desperately trying to tell you is just this… Girls like confident guys. Or girls, in your case. So you should just go to her and… ask her. Just like that. Hmm, well, maybe not when she eating or drinking, ‘cause she might choke out of surprise.”

Victor’s spiky brown hair shook as he moved his head in a disappointed motion. “No, no, no. You’ve got it all wrong, Chase. That’s too straightforward, too… simple. Xavin, it needs to be special, for both of you. Maybe you could go out for dinner, have a picnic in the beach, or take her to the hills while the sun sets in the Pacific. You need to set up the mood…” Chase looked as if he wanted to interrupt, but Victor cut him off. “… and then, you can ask her as bluntly as you want, if you think Chase’s advice is somehow useful. I say, make it unique, unforgettable.” Victor smiled warmly at Xavin, and then proceeded to smug at Chase.

Chase answered with a rude gesture. “Bite me, Casanova. My way is as good as yours. Except it’s less time-consuming or cheesy.” 

Xavin closed her eyes to allow the guys some bickering time as she reflected on the counsel they had given her. Take the best bits from both; she knew what she had to do. Her scheme was hatched and she felt confident. Yes, she was 100% sure it’d all go well. Her plan was flawless.

Xavin stood up, filled with poise and enthusiasm. Her imposing ways made the boys automatically shut up as she raised herself. Later they would speculate together on what made Xavin such a laughable and easy to pick on character when she was ‘male’, but such an intimidating figure when she was a girl.  “Thank you so much for your suggestions. They might not be perfect when they stand alone, but a proper mix by a mind such as mine produces a remarkable result. I appreciate your input, it was extremely useful.” After that stern speech, she smiled sweetly at them. Then she added with her girlish voice. “You two make a really good team!”

Victor and Chase stared at each other, wondering what had just happened. Chase felt really befuddled by that strange duality within seconds Xavin had just showed, and Victor tried to figure out if Xavin had subtly called their minds inferior to her own. Anyway, both waved speechlessly at her when she rose from the sofa and walked assertively towards the steps.

Nico strolled into the room with careless ease and bumped with surefooted Xavin. “Oh, sorry Xavin. Hey boys, are you going to use the TV? There’s some junk I want to watch right about now. Do you mind?”

 Chase snapped out of his bewilderment and stood up to widely sit next to Victor, using up all the spare space in the couch. “Whoops! Sorry Nico, but we’re just going to start playing… huh… something and your Buffy the Vampire slayer DVDs are not invited.” Victor peeked the box set on Nico’s hand and immediately back Chase with adamant nods. “Yeah, sorry boss. _Nada de brujas_ for me, I’m way too religious to watch that stuff.”

Nico pouted, placing her hands on her hips. “Ugh, why did I even ask? One cannot be polite with the likes of you, kids. I’ll magic you to the middle of the ocean if you don’t move!” Victor and Chase just made silly faces at her, and the later turned on the TV and their trusty gaming console.

Xavin turned for a moment, while still walking and asked to Nico if she had seen Karo around. “Karo? Yeah, I believe she was right behind me, because she intended to watch Buffy with me!” She said this staring exasperated at the boys. They kept ignoring her. The game’s title screen was on the TV now. Nico marched to the TV’s plug, to just shut down everything. 

Xavin’s eyes went back to the doorway, where she found her betrothed gracefully gliding down the staircase. When their sights met, Karo beamed at her, her smile warm as sunshine. Xavin’s mind went blank. It felt just like the first time she met her. Her brain screamed at her one command and she had to oblige. “Tell her! Tell her now! NOW!” Xavin skipped over the distance that separated them and took Karo’s hands. Trying to get a grip, she whispered: “There’s something I need to tell you. Come with me.”

Karo looked back at Xavin puzzled, but she allowed herself to be lead up the stairs she had just walked downwards by the woman she loved. Why? Because it felt like the right thing to do. 


	3. On how Karo got cold feet.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And the plot thickens... well, it sort of does.

   Nico paced impatiently around Karo’s neat room. She stopped for a moment, glanced at the bathroom door and sighed loudly. Then she kept sauntering around, biting her own tongue and mutely cursing. ‘In two minutes more, it’ll be an hour since she locked herself in the damned toilet. Why did I let her in by herself?! Goddammit, I could see how panicky she was. I could feel it! You’re an idiot, Nico. Your incompetence is _ruining_ this wedding.’

   She halted once again, seriously considering to just magicking Karo out of the tiny lavatory. She stepped gingerly towards the door and pressed her ear against the door.  She was still crying. “Karo, honey, please let me in. I really don’t want to force you or anything, but…” Nico needed a new argument. In the last half-hour, when she first noticed something was definitely off, she had tried everything she could possibly think of. She had no idea what to say, so she tried with something really stupid, for a change.  “Um… Don’t you think the guys are going to get bored soon? You’ve been in there for almost an hour! I bet Molly is trying to do something dangerous right about now, and Victor and Chase are probably bickering about how absurd we girls are. Come on, you gotta get out. Even if you don’t… want to…” Nico’s voice trailed off as Karo’s bawls only grew deeper and more miserable.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry, I’m sorry, _I’msosososorry_ …” Karo’s muffles words were barely understandable, being all mixed up with hiccups and sobs.

Nico let her body slide down the door and softly knocked her against it before letting it hang loose with defeat. She almost felt like crying as well. She wouldn’t though, that would’ve messed up her makeup. She had to be the straight man right now. She had to be serious, sensible and most off all strenuous. She raised her voice once again, but this time there was no trace sweetness in her voice. She used her leader tone, the stern voice Karo had to recognise as authority. “Karo. Hear me out. Calm down.” Only sobs answered back. “I said calm down woman! Get a hold of yourself and tell me what’s wrong! I need you to be frank to me, and fast.” The sudden silence stunned Nico. ‘Wow, she’s actually takes direct commands better .’

Karo’s attempts at following Nico’s order were made obvious by her heavy breathing and her whispered cooling-off mantras. “Shh, shhh, dooown, dooown. One... two… three! Ouch!” In that moment, it was clear that Karo had hit her head against the door, but Nico made no comment about it. She just smiled to herself with relief.

“Ready to tell me what the hell’s going through your mind, Karolina? ‘Cause you’ll have to, I can’t have a neurotic bride in the altar. It’d make me look like a bad wedding planner. Now, spill it, Blondie.” Nico tried being bossy and harsh, much like she had sounded before, but in the end it came out more endearing and playful than that.

Karo breathed in profoundly and expired noisily. And then her voice came, like a thin thread of glass. “I miss my Mom.” And just like glass, it shattered. Karo whimpered and covered her mouth with both of her hands. She needed stop crying. She had to stop. “And I miss my Dad… I never… I never pictured this situation… like this.” Karo raised her eyes and saw her reflexion on the polished white walls. The girl who was looking back at her made her feel weak and fragile, but over all that, it made her feel furious. “I know it sounds dumb Nico, but I… I panicked. I felt overwhelmed and strange and lonely and…”

“I miss them too, y’know.” Nico’s voice was soft and secretive. It was the tone she only used when she was feeling down or hurt. It sounded almost foreign; it felt strange in her lips and tongue. “And even if they were evil, and there’s no denying that, they… loved us. Every couple love their child over everything in the world, including _the fucking world_. Your mother and father loved you, and mine loved me and Molly’s, Chase’s, Gert’s… Alex’s…” Nico’s trail of thoughts faded as she pictured herself running late for school, hurriedly having breakfast, her Mother behind the kitchen counter making waffles, her Father absent-mindedly doing the wash-up as he tried to pay attention to the morning news. Domesticity; some days, she missed it so much.

“I owe them everything.” Karo’s words broke Nico’s longing, as she snapped right out of her memories.

“No, you owe them nothing. Don’t you dare to feel sorry or in debt, because they tried to wrong all of us, they tried to kill us! Miss them all you want, but don’t feel like you actually owe them anything.” Nico sounded pissed off, but somehow felt the same bulging thought inside her head.

“Nico, I don’t think you’re getting what I mean. I owe them the most important thing in my life, the person I love the most.” Karo felt her cheeks burning pink. She realised that the fleeting thought of a world in which she never got to know Xavin had been the catalyser of all this freak-out. She still missed her parents, but she wasn’t alone. Xavin was the last gift her parent had unknowing left for her.

Karo stood up and dusted her dress, feeling rather silly. The energy that had fuelled her for the last weeks came back to her, streaming in her veins and pumping her up. She caught her reflexion again; her face was puffy and her makeup was a smudge, but her smile was all too real now. “Oh, I hope Xavin isn’t too mad with me now.” Karo giggled. Nico sighed again, happily; she knew Xavin could never get mad at Karo. “Ahh, my face’s a complete mess! Nico, help!” A click indicated the door was now unlocked.

Nico swung the door open and swiftly stepped into the immaculate room. Karo was washing off the paint smears from her face. When she was done, she raised herself from the basin and beamed at Nico, ready for a quick touch up or whatever her friend had in mind. What Nico did was just reach down for her left wrist and undo her inhibitor bracelet, making her spill light all over the reflective walls of the small bathroom. “There. You are ready.”

Karo threw her arms around Nico’s shoulders, feeling extremely grateful. Nico just chuckled and pat her back. This could’ve been comforting gesture or just her, hurrying Karo up. “I’m sorry I freaked out on you. You’re the best wedding planner ever.”

“The hell I am! Now, let’s go and get you married, _pu-lease_. I didn’t stitch you up that gorgeous dress just so you could mop around in it. C’mon! Hurry up!” Nico leaped into the hall and clapped her hands, hastening Karo. Karo let out a playful little scream and hopped around, looking for one of her misplaced heels.

***

“Wedding March!” Nico screamed from the top of the stairs with her magic-laced tone. The notes most commonly associated with weddings rapidly invaded every corner of the room. Molly and Klara shrieked with excitement, and Xavin found herself almost terrified by the deep sound of the organ mixed with the disembodied strings. Chase, who was sitting by the podium chuckled at Xavin’s cute reaction and promptly received a boot in the shin, courtesy of Victor, who now looked very rigorous and solemn.  With a slight eye gesture and a nod, Victor “encouraged” Chase to get in his place quick.  Still giggling to himself, he trotted to the back of the stand, ready to officiate like a pro. He had, after all, researched (i.e. read some Wikipedia articles) a bit about wedding ceremonies of all kinds, because this particular wedding wasn’t like any other celebrated on Earth…probably, and taken an online course to get “licensed”. In retrospective, it was quite laughable to picture himself as some sort of priest.

   Old Lace stirred up and tried to approach to the stand. Chase had made her stay on a far corner of the room in case he got into a little bit of a brawl with Victor, which was the proper thing to do because it had happen thrice already. Old Lace tended to overreact to any kind of violence Chase got into, even if it was with playful intentions. That’s why when she gingerly paced towards the expectant bride and her entourage, Chase negated slowly with his head and Molly screamed joyfully: “No! No girl, you gotta stay back! Karo is coming!” Old Lace lowered her head and froze in her place, looking disappointed. The small flower circlet Klara had placed on her head almost slumped from her brow as she whined.

Klara, kind and compassionate with everything living, as always, took pity on the poor reptilian gal.  “Ow, poor Old Lacey. Why can’t she come closer, Chase? She has been behaving so well so far!”

“At least she’s behaved way better than you, Chase.” Scoffed Victor, while he tried stepped behind Xavin and paced around, looking for the right spot to place himself respectfully by the bride. “Maybe she should be officiating this wedding instead. If only she could talk…” Victor let his voice fade and caused some laughter on the girls, including Xavin. She was getting used to the loud noisy of the so-called Wedding March, and she was even starting to like the rhythm of it.

“Ha ha, good one, Not-Best-Man.” Chase gave his attacker a sarcastic smile and leaned with ease on the podium. He heard high heels clicking down the steps. Only one pair, though. “Hey ladies? Are we having a wedding here or not? The Minister of Absolutely-Legal-Alien-Love is getting bored to tears!” Victor frowned at him. That idiotic title Chase had self-proclaimed sounded so offensive to his finely tuned ears. Ears that also picked up the sound made by 5-inch heeled shoes someone was wearing. 

Xavin shudder in her place. She hadn’t moved an inch since Nico’s voice was heard and the music came along. She was tense and anxious, that much was true, but all her bad feelings and terrible hunches were quickly changing into good omens and delightful goose bumps crawling up and down her back. The shoes, she could her them too. But she could also hear something else, a hum only she was able to hear, recognise, and love. A sound full of _light_.

“Flower girl, deploy!” Chase announced and Klara gently urged the thousands of tiny buds, spread all around the room in pots she herself had prepared, to bloom and blossom all at once. The room that had stood as their living room was now full of sweet scents and rich noises of plants stretching. The colours sprouted from everywhere and anywhere. The creeper plants held to every piece of furniture they didn’t bother to move and even the freshly cut bouquets on the girls hands grew a little. Chase and Victor looked at each other, astonished by the raw power Klara had reached now that she was on full command of her abilities. Molly just smiled knowingly; she was almost used to this kind of displays.

Xavin didn’t notice at all. She had her eyes fixed on the door, now covered with overgrown ivy and vines. She breathed heavily, almost panting. She was unconsciously biting her lower lip and mouthing the vows she had planned to say. These words were slowly escaping from her mind. The reheard phrases changed to a low, begging whisper, a single name she repeated like a mantra: “Karo, Karo, Karo…”

Suddenly, like pushed by a gust of wind, the doors flung open. Blinding light poured into the room, followed by a discreet shadow, a companion holding the tail of an extremely long dress. The wait was over, the missing bride was here.

  


	4. On how to successfully organise an Alien Wedding.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hmm, does anybody read the chapter summaries? 'Cause I know I don't. That's why I don't even bother writing 'em.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing in the most random order possible is a hobby of mine.  
> But please, by all means, enjoy this little big chapter I have for you, dear reader.

Chase gawked at Victor for exactly 23 seconds before asking again. “Do you really, _really_ want to do this? ‘Cause I think it’s stupid, and you know it is.” Chase accented his words by grabbing Victor by the shoulder and shaking him a bit. “Vic, you know how stupid this is. We really don’t have to ask, it’s-”

“Shut up, we need to ask.” Victor slid off Chase’s grasp and stepped backwards. “I mean… She has the right to… huh… Ah! A wedding is not a wedding without a best man! And a maid of honour. I’m pretty sure Nico fits that part.” He looked determined to ask his definitive question, even though he actually felt slightly queasy.

The door in front of them swung open and Xavin walked into the living room. She’d been doing the laundry. That was not common for her to do, but she’d been feeling dutiful since the ‘yes’ from Karo. She’d virtually do anything it was asked from her. Chase took advantage of that; he made her do the wash-up three days in a row. 

Victor held his place and Chase tried to subtly run off the premise. Victor snatched him by one of his long hair strand. With a low grumble and a murmured curse, Chase stayed still. Xavin stared at both of them and wondered what the hell was going on now. She had gotten use to that feeling, especially in front of these two idiots. Victor loudly cleared his throat and coughed a bit, trying to seem solemn. Chase just sighed.

“Xavin. I, er, we were wondering if… um, you had decided on who will be your best man…” Xavin looked as confused as before. “Huh… regarding the wedding. Because, I… I met you as a man and in my mind you’ve always been a… huh”

Chase planted his palm on Victor’s face forcefully, effectively shutting him up. “No moron, you’re doing this all wrong. I think you’re religious robo-brain is taking over. Lemme do the talking.”  Xavin   remained unmoved. Her eyes now shifted to Chase. “Xavin, do Skrull wedding have a ‘best man’? This guy would have to be like the groom’s best friend or brother or something.” Xavin shook her head, and Victor winced, letting out a small cry of complaint. “See? Told ya. She doesn’t need a best man.”

“But… but how can a wedding be if not with a… a best man… It’s terrible!” Victor looked positively shattered. Chase put his arm around his shoulder and tried to swing him around, far from Xavin. He looked back for a moment before strutting off with heartbroken Victor and gave Xavin a small shrug, meaning: “Yeah, I don’t get what got into him either, but I’m pretty sure he’ll get over it. It must be his religious hardware, y’know. Or maybe his sheltered upbringing. I don’t even know. Well, don’t worry; I’ll sort it out… Crazy stuff, right?”

Xavin kept staring until they boys were out of her sight. She could still hear them, though. Victor insisted in what he thought was a proper wedding (and was quite specific in the details), and Chase tried to remind him how this wasn’t a proper wedding, but an alien wedding. With actual, real aliens.

As she walked through the corridor, Xavin wondered how hard could it be to just put a wedding together. Karo skipped out of Nico’s room, fresh from her measuring for her wedding gown and bumped sweetly unto her beloved. Karo took Xavin by the hand and started rambling about her dress. Xavin smiled at her and they kept walking together, completely unaware of the uproar their nuptials were causing on the Runaway household.

***

“ORDER!” Screamed Nico at the top of her lungs and the chattering stopped for a moment. Then Molly whispered something unintelligible and Chase burst into laughter again, followed closely by Molly herself.  Victor shrugged and remained quiet. Klara giggled and felt a little guilty. Nico sighed deeply. She already looked exhausted and they’ve being trying to put something together for an hour or so. She now tried using a pitiful tone: “Please shut up, guys, we need to get this sorted out now. We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us, especially me, and if we plan to make this wedding a fact by the end of summer, we need to be hasty and efficient.”

Victor nodded and added: “I agree with Nico, you guys aren’t taking this with enough seriousness. We’re planning to join two lives with a holy bond; you can’t fool around with that!” In the exact moment Victor pronounced those words, he knew he had screwed up gravely. Molly and Chase stared at him astonished and then proceeded to cackle even harder than before. Nico kept sighing and keeping her cool, trying not to send everyone straight into Oblivion on a whim.

Molly gasped for air and pointing at the poor Victor, she said: “Gosh Vic! We know the wedding is a big deal, but it’s not you who’s getting married! You got that straight, right?” She couldn’t stop laughing; she held her aching belly and whispered ‘What a… Drama-reina!’ repeatedly to Klara, who agreed giggling softly and shyly, as she always did. Now Victor also regretted teaching some Spanish to the girls.

Chase backed Molly’s criticism immediately: “Sheesh Molly, get off his back. He’s not acting like it’s his own wedding, he’s playing the part of the terrible mother-in-law! Like those humongous hags in Bridezilla!” Chase was on the verge of tears. Old Lace cackled as well, adding up to the general chaos of the situation. Victor groaned defeated.

As the last breathes of mirth left the laughing lot, Nico composed herself and got into Commander Sister Grimm-mode; hands on hips, tapping of the foot and exasperated facade:  “Are you done with the bullying and the joking around? Can we please get something done today?” Chase, looking quite ragged after his giggles fit, nodded and declared the fooling around time over. Surprisingly, this sort of worked. 

“Ok. Now, we’re not a big lot, so this shouldn’t be too hard to figure out. Let’s say, each one of us get a task and you’ll worry just about that. Is that fair enough?” General consent was expressed. “Ah, great. Alright, now for the hard part… Molly. Something tells me you might want to be flower girl, but I believe that place’s for Klara. ‘Cause she’s our resident flower-power gal, right?”

Nico expected the pandemonium to break just about now, but she was gladly surprised by Molly’s mature response: “Oh sure, Klara’s perfect for that. And anyway, I’m way too powerful to waste my time on delicate flower spraying. I call the place of… chair-lifter!”

“Um, Molly-” Interrupted Chase, “I think you have in mind a Jewish kinda wedding. Err, I don’t think we’ll have any chair lifting, ‘cause, y’know, we’re not even sure if our lady-loving couple dig that. Xavin won’t care, I guess, but as I recall, Karo was raised like Hollywood Atheist… Or Catholic, I don’t really know.” Chase laughed inwardly at that last fact he mentioned, and how hilarious in hindsight it turned out to be. 

Molly looked terribly disappointed for a moment, just to shrug it off by saying: “Well, then I call dibs on ring bearer.”

“Granted. Now, to the next terribly difficult choice…” Nico turned now to Victor and Chase, who were respectively looking jumpy and spacing off. “Even if this isn’t an authentic, 100% legal wedding, we’ll need someone to play the part of… um, priest. Just to get that totally ‘realistic feeling’ we want. I would’ve taken that part if I wasn’t burdened with **everything else** related to this thing, so our only options are… you two. So, who is it gonna be?”

“Not it.” Mumbled Chase and Victor beamed at Nico, filled with hope and enthusiasm. “I can do it! I want to do it! I’ll be great at this, trust me!”

“Ugh, ok Vic, but first hear me out. I knew how this would play out and I have something very important to comment about it. Um, that’d be… you’ll need to play your religious thing down if you’re going to ‘officiate’ this jam. Do you think you can do that?” Victor kept smiling widely, but his eyes filled up with confusion and a moment later, some robotic process inside his brain made him appear almost lifeless. He was buffering, apparently.

Nico’s spine was licked by a goose bump. Victor’s eyes were starting to spark. Molly and Klara backed off slowly, as Old Lace growled at Victor. “Huh… Chase, would you please-”

“I’m way ahead of you.” Interrupted Chase as Nico inched away herself. He then proceeded to struck Victor square in the nape with the back of his hand, throwing him forward. Victor hit the floor like a sack of flour and didn’t move for a moment. No one dared to breathe. After that, he stirred, using his hands to lift himself and groaned in what can be described as ‘a very human way’. His eyes flickered no more. A general sigh of relief followed.

Chase leaped up and quickly approached Nico, leaving a couple of inches between them. He harshly muttered into her ear: “Nico, don’t try that again. You came _way_ too close to one of his off-switch sentences. In fact, never try to make him overthink religion, ‘cause it’ll toast his brain. He could go haywire if you-”

Nico gave herself some distance by stepping back and pointing at Chase to drawl her words, murmured back: “I get it. I won’t, but don’t you dare defy me like this. I will not have it…” Tension lingered in the air, materialised on the low growl utter by Old Lace. Klara let out a faint cry.

And then Victor stood up, looked around baffled and with honest doubt in his voice, said: “Huh… what day is it?” He focused on Nico and Chase, and how they appeared to be in midst of a heated stare fight. “Umm, guys. Am I interrupting or… what’s going on here?” Chase gave Nico one last look and a brief nod before swing back to the couch carelessly and sinking into it. Nico kept her composure and tried smiling at Victor. Turns out she’s not that good at acting after all.

“Come sit Vic, we need to finish this up.” Chase patted the empty space by his side, ordering Victor to sit there. Nonetheless, Victor still looked uncertain and distressed, making his eyes jump from Nico to Chase, back and forth. Chase cleared his throat and insisted. “Come ‘ere! Nico and I were just… _discussing_ some… umm… outfit issues ‘cause, huh, she wants us to wear… colourful tuxedos. Like, pink and orange. Personally, I won’t stand for that shit, will you?”

After a moment in which Victor still looked slightly computerised and completely dumbfounded, he scuffed and sat right by Chase. “Psh, no. I mean, a pink tuxedo? What’s your problem Nico? Estas loca. You wear a pink tuxedo if you want to; I’m sticking to the classic black.”

“I’ll wear a pink tuxedo… if it helps…” Klara interjected with her tiny voice. Molly let out a nervous giggle and assured her it wasn’t really necessary for anyone to wear that atrocity after all. Nico looked gratefully at the girls for trying to help, but decided this strange interlude was over.

“Ok, so, back to business. Inadvertently, you’ve just singled yourself out for the priest position, Chase. So… get on it, would ya? And please do this right. We’re doing it for Karo and Xavin so… try to be serious about it.” Chase had already resigned to this new task, so he just shrugged it off when assigned by Nico.

Victor’s jaw dropped. “What?! But I was going to-” Intense stares from everyone in the room shut him up immediately. Nico’s was particularly frightening. “Ay Dios, what the hell did I do now? Did my… circuits fry or was it-” 

“It doesn’t matter Vic. The thing is… you can’t ‘officiate’ this stick, it’s physically impossible for you. So… just let Chase do it and you can help me with everything else.” Nico now felt the exhaustion creeping unto her. She’d probably continue working on the wedding plans tomorrow, because right about now the only thing she could think of was to lay down for a bit.

Victor let out a tragic whimper of misery before trying to negotiate an actual part on the wedding: “But if I’m not the minister or whatever Chase intends to be, what _can_ I be? ‘Because I **need** to have a part in this! It’s my only chance to experience something as sacred as this.” Victor kicked Chase on the shin before he could even think of laughing at him again. “Don’t you dare! I mean it; I want to be a part of this. I need to be a part of this!”

“Then be the best man.” Blurted Klara, louder than usual. Suddenly, everyone was paying attention to her words. She winced and tried to hide behind Molly, but Nico made her stand up, as to showcase her for her brilliant idea. Even Victor looked eager now; this downgrading could turn out to be a promotion within the wedding ranks. “Klara, you’re truly brilliant!” 

“Ha, like that’ll work.” Chase said with contempt in his voice. Victor stared at him, pouting. Nico gave Chase a poisonous glance and dismissed his words, but Victor held unto them and asked:  “Why would you say that, maldito aguafiestas? Stop raining on my parade!”

“This is not your parade and I doubt Xavin or Karo would want a best man. Especially Xavin. Remember that a couple of months ago she didn’t even consider a living creature?” Chase did feel sorry for acting as a jerk to him, but on the back of his mind he knew Victor would be safer the farther and less involved he got in the wedding. Something also told him that Nico hadn’t had his epiphany, as he first thought she had.

Victor grunted and stood up, feeling unfaltering: “No, we’re way past that. I’m sure that if I ask nicely, she’ll understand. Xavin is a reasonable… person. Individual… huh, she’s ok.” Victor directed himself to the door. Nico stepped in his way and shook her head, denying his non-verbal request.

“No Vic, you’re not going anywhere. Not now, at least.” Victor was about to make his argument, when Nico cut in before he could even open his mouth. “No! Victor… The ladies are… busy. Very, very busy. So… later. You go and ask, but not now. Are we clear?”

Victor noticed how Nico flushed a little bit. Sensing he was missing out on something, he concentrated on his hearing and tried heightening it. And then he heard what Nico was trying not to talk about. Muffled voices, soft groans and moans, whispered words and little screams of pleasure. He immediately shut his ears (Because he actually can do that... He didn't know until that day) and popped his eyes wide open. “Oh… OH.” Nico smacked him in the left ear. “Ouch! Ah… okay. Sure, later.”

“Hmmph, good. Now, everyone, go and get busy. I have dresses to design and a wedding to put together so, DO NOT BOTHER ME. Are we clear?” Again, general consent was agreed immediately. “Good… good.” And Nico exited the living room, roamed the hallways straight to her dimly lit room and collapsed on her bed, with her head full of bright ideas.


	5. On tying the knot and the madness related to it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dear reader,
> 
> I'm bleedin' sorry for being so damned late with this last chapter. :(  
> I had a bit of a writer's block during January and all throughout November-December I was crazy busy.   
> I am so, so sorry, my dear reader. But worry not! Alas, 'cause you are getting a nice bonus epilogue. :)
> 
> So go on, read this last chapter. And enjoy!

Nico stared at Karo for some good 5 minutes before asking her to turn around. She muttered to herself and scribbled down a couple of notes on her little black notebook (for clothing-related use only) before getting her hands on the metric tape. “Okay, I have _something_ in mind. Let’s measure you up, blushing bride-to-be.”

Karo beamed at Nico and stepped closer to her. Now the tape was around her neck. “Oh, don’t call me that just yet; you’re making me feel old.” Nico raised her eyebrows slightly as she wrote down numbers on the notebook. The tape slid from Karo’s neck to her chest. “Can I get a glimpse of what you have in mind, eh? Is it going to be frilly? Or super-goth-cool like your other dresses? Or maybe mega-skimpy, like that one dress I had picked out for prom…”

As Karo kept rambling about, Nico tried to settle for one design out of the bunch she had in her mind. “I think a goth dress wouldn’t suit you. Allow me to feature the dark side down the aisle, please.  For you, I’m thinking… immaculate, slim, shimmering… a long tail just because I can produce all the fabric I need out of thin air, and… sleeves, probably. I might ditch them if the summer gets too intense for them. Do you have any input on the colour? Or should I go with the traditional white?”

Karo stopped smiling for a moment and adopted a pensive expression. Nico finished writing down and gestured to Karo to turn around once more. Nico placed the measuring tape along Karo’s shoulders and noted down some more digits. She was nearly done and had almost forgotten the question she had asked Karo, so when the reply came to her it made her jump a bit: “I like white.” Karo’s voice was cheery, yet careful. After a dull assent from Nico, Karo elaborated: “I know what the moral bigots would say about a _heathen lesbian_ getting married in white, but I don’t care. It’s being my dream ever since I was a little girl. A fairytale wedding and a beautiful white dress… I want white and I’ll get white! Riiight?” 

After feeling the measuring was over, Karo twirled to face Nico and gave her an expectant look.  “Sure you will.” Nico reread her notes and closing the little book, gave her dearest friend a reassuring smile. Good, white it would be. Much better for her, much simpler to work with just one colour.

She could almost visualise the result. The dress would fall freely down Karo’s silhouette, slightly loose in some place and tight around the curves. The white would be bright and pure, like untouched snow. It would move like sheets of water when she walked down the aisle. The tail would spume behind her, as sea foam acts on a peaceful night. Her skin would glow and made the whole ensemble shinier. Her hair would float around, with infinite hues spewing about. Her arms… would be naked. Hmm, no sleeves, Nico noted. She reopened the notebook and dully scratched the words from the list.

“Am I good to go?” Asked Karo and forcefully snapped Nico from her designer trance/dream sequence, again.

“Oh yeah, sure. You go and… um… just go. I’ve got tons off work to do.” Nico shooed her with a flick of her fingers. Karo just smiled and bounced out of the room, rejoicing. She bumped into her bride to be, and learned quite a funny story from her after she neatly informed her of the dress’ current status.

***

Xavin stopped breathing as tears welled up in her eyes. She then mumbled something only a Skrull would understand: words heavy with honest feelings and a truthful ring to them. She breathed out, tried swallowing her tears and finally ended up failing. For the first time ever, the Runaways saw her cry.

Victor inched away stunned and almost scared of her reaction. Chase couldn’t hide his amazement as he stared and thought to himself smiling how sweetly bizarre his life turned up to be. Klara gaped at Xavin and decided this was the most moving moment of her entire life. A moment later, she started crying herself. Molly put her arm around Klara’s shoulders and patted her softly, trying to console her with silly whispers and giggles.   

As Karo stepped into the room, gently touching down after her floating entrance, Xavin’s tears caught her eye. She gasped and felt terrible for her beloved, but knew she couldn’t run to her now, mainly because Nico was holding half of her dress. She had to limit herself to smile warmly at Xavin and mouthing an ‘I’m sorry’ for her. Xavin nodded and smiled back at her, squeezing her bouquet.   

Slowly, Karo glided towards the improvised altar. The music had lowered its deafening volume to an acceptable one, and Karo could hear Nico talking to herself, checking everything was in order and correct. She laughed and said just loud enough for her friend to hear her: “Relax, everything perfect. Everything.  Thank you so much.” Nico just sighed and kept counting, revising and rambling, but with a warm, validating sensation now.

Chase pretended to be asleep. Karo saw him and smiled widely at him. He peeked with one eye and smiled back at her, to then wink it and receive a proper slap on the head by Victor. Karo knew Victor was probably chastising Chase and he was most likely ignoring him. Perhaps they knew how their domestics amused her infinitely and might be faking one right now, just for her. She preferred to believe it was fate. Victor gave Chase one last deadly look as he went back to his place while Chase straightened up to look quite presentable and _even_ good in his suit.

Finally, Karo was there. Nico let go of the dress’ tail and stood between Victor and the altar, just to keep the petty quarrelling in line. She nodded at Chase and he cracked his knuckles, ready for the so called ‘ceremony’.

Karo slid her hand into Xavin now free one and squeezed her fingers softly. Then she whispered: “I’m sorry, my love. I had a bit of a breakdown in the powder room, but I’m now alright. I’m ready to get married and all that.” She tried sounding silly, to lighten up the mood. Xavin gave her a very serious face before she grinned and tried to steal a kiss from Karo’s lips, only to get magnificently blocked by Chase’s notes.

“No, no, no, my sweet ladies. No sinful smooching until you officially tie the knot.” He then chuckled and started going through his notes. These were five pieces of cardboard with various scribbles in them. He inhaled deeply, held his breathe for a moment and the exhaled loudly, still reading every other card, nodding to some and discarding others. Finally, he settled for one and grinned widely: “Okay, let’s do this.”

Xavin felt slightly out of place, as no one had explained to her how this particular ritual would work and she hadn’t thought of asking. The standard Skrull ‘wedding’ was more of a contract signing with tons of witnesses from both sides. It certainly lacked the sentiment a mixed-race ceremony such as this one would have, but even that kind of wedding appeared to be more of a business meeting than a celebration of spiritual linking. Xavin had been witness of several Skrull weddings, but those occasions did not prepare her for the utter informality, gleeful ruckus and shambles of a wedding she would now experience.

“Dearly beloved!” Chase begun. Victor sighed hopelessly and Nico elbowed him, as to order from him more smiles. “We are here gathered to get these two _lovely_ ladies married.” He winked at the girls and encountered Karo’s knowing smirk and Xavin’s dumbfounded expression. “I am no priest, nor monk, nor minister. I’m not even much of a believer, you see. But I do believe in something! I believe in _LOVE!_ ”

Now Nico was the one feeling embarrassed. She covered her face with her hands and peeked through her fingers. Chase was exacerbating his every movement in a way only Molly (while high on caffeine) could top. He was being absolutely ridiculous, and yet it seemed to be working. Xavin was now cracking a smile too.

“My sisters! And Vic. Do you believe in… The power of love?!” This question was answered by the shrill screams of Klara and Molly, and an enthusiastic ‘yes’ from the brides to be. Even Old Lace tried to join in by letting out an approval-filled roar. Nico just nodded, mortified and Victor stared at Chase, wondering what the hell was wrong with his brain. Chase, delighted with the participation, kept going: “We believe in the Power of Love! That’s why today we’ll join our girls in _unholy_ and _illegal_ matrimony! Yeah!” Chase punched the air over him and then gave an indicative glance to Molly. She nodded and stepped up, offering Karo and Xavin their new wedding bands. 

Forged in pure black platinum, an element not so rare for the Skrull Empire, as their standard issue communicators contained large amounts of it, the twin rings seemed to attract all the light surrounding them and absorb it. The rings were joined (“Like a Venn diagrams” mentally noted Victor, trying to figure them out.) and appeared to be inseparable, but how the rings worked was the only part Xavin actually knew about. She took them first, wrapping her index around one of them and offered the other to Karo. Confident, she picked the opposite ring with her index, emulating the way Xavin did it. Their fingers were only inches away now. Metaphorically, so were their hearts.

Molly moved back to her place and gave a look to Chase, who was mesmerised by the sheer beauty of the rings. She cleared her throat accusingly and he snapped out. “Oh shoot, sorry.” He then mumbled at Skrull bride: “Those are some fine looking rings, Xavin.” She acknowledged his praise by giving him a friendly, thankful look and a smile.

“Back to business, merry people. It’s time for vows and all that mush. You may proceed; the floor is yours, gals.” Chase symbolically stepped back, as everyone else did at that moment. That was the only scripted moment of the whole ceremony, a step back to give the girls some space. It turned out fine.

“Xavin… Oh God, what more could I say to you? I love you, deeply, honestly and forever. I never thought I could feel like this, so fiercely and strongly, for anyone. But I know I can, because every time I see you it dawns in me again. I realise I love you, in every single moment of my existence. I also realise I will love you eternally. I… regret hating myself for being who and how I am before I met you. I couldn’t figure myself out, not without you. As tacky as it sounds, you… complete me.” Karo shone bright through every word she said, but those last ones made her cheeks glow and flicker, and the subtle, joy-filled tears that ran down them were like droplets of light.

Xavin, using her free hand, wiped those tears away and began her little speech: “Karolina Dean, I did not know you when I first arrived to this planet, nor did I expect to feel how I feel now. Obligation drove me, yet it was you, as the beautiful individual you are, who made me understand why I really came here. I travelled from far away to fulfil my real duty, and that is to love you unconditionally. If there is a God, it was its biding. If Fate made it happen, I welcome its path. I am here, now with you and I will never part from you. To protect you with my life, to be your truthful companion and to love you with all my heart; all this I swear to you.”

Xavin gave her ring a gentle pull, to show Karo how act now. Karo, still fuzzy by Xavin’s words shudder and gave her ring a slight pull as well. Xavin then counted softly: “One… two… three!”  And simultaneously they pulled. The rings effortlessly parted and slid in the wearer’s respective index finger, as was traditional for Skrulls to wear. Xavin’s gave an intense blue glimmer before it resolved in the initial deep black, but Karo’s ring flickered wildly with colours similar to her skin’s glow and ended up settled itself in a white, silvery tint. Xavin proceeded to grab Karo’s hand and just tenderly smile at her.

Chase was staring again, like everyone else. This time, he got the cue before anyone else snapped out of the trance and had to exclaim: “Man that was **too** cool. Skrull rings are boss.” These words pulled everyone out of their fascination. “So, they’re now basically married. But we still lacked a little something _something_ , right?” Molly and Klara were the only ones to nod excitedly. Nico limited herself to mouth a soft ‘yes’ and Victor, still feeling this wedding lacked all the proper procedures, nodded almost melancholically. “Oh yeah we do. So, for the power invested on me by no one, or maybe for the power of love? I don’t know, let’s go with that. For the power invested in me by LOVE, I pronounce wife and wifer.” Molly snorted loudly and quickly covered her mouth, but ended up laughing anyways; she just couldn’t stop herself. “Ladies, you can **officially** make out.” 

That was all the validation they needed. Karo jumped unto Xavin, wrapping her arms around her neck and promptly planted her lips over Xavin’s. Not that she was complaining, Xavin was ready for it. She pulled Karo closer to herself with her right arm and gently stroked Karo’s neck and jawbone with her left hand. She then deepened the kiss, officially oblivious of her surroundings.

Even if they were only five kids and a Deinonychus, they bellowed like a hefty crowd. Nico clapped louder than anyone, and felt particularly proud at that moment, seeing how well it all had turned out. Klara started crying again and hugged Molly fiercely, trying not to run towards the newlyweds and hug them. Molly held Klara and tried to applaud while having her short arms around her friend’s neck. It was complicated, but doable. Chase nodded softly and clapped respectfully, trying his hardest to keep his cool. Old Lace was the one really showing Chase’s sentiment at the moment, flailing her head and tail, and roaring with evident excitement. Finally, Victor smiled and cheered instead of mopping as he had previously done. He might’ve not completely approved of the ceremony, however, he couldn’t deny how real it all was and how true it must be, even to the eyes of God. What he was experiencing was a true act of love and that fact alone satisfied him.

After a full minute of kissing, Karo parted herself from Xavin for a moment and screamed to Nico: “Don’t you think it’s time or the party?”

This caught Nico slightly off guard. She was still obliviously clapping, trying not to shed a tear. She almost dropped the Staff of One when she tried to grab it from under her arm without stopping her cheering. She barely caught it with her foot. Chase openly chuckled at this. “Oh, shut up!” Nico snapped back, as she leaned to pick her staff. She then stood very straight, and while between Victor and Chase, she asked them: “Are you ready to see some real magic, boys?”

“I believe this union is magical enough, you don’t have to light sparkles off you stick, Nico.” Victor commented carelessly as he watched Xavin spin her bride around. Nico gapped at him. Chase was now failing to hold back his hilarity tears. He held his gut, almost bent from laughter. “Ow Vic, ow man. Well said!” Chase overstressed every word he said and punctuated his last sentence with an impromptu high-five. Victor replied immediately and joined his mirth.

Nico stormed off to get away from that pair of _idiots_ and, when she was a couple of feet from them, she briefly turned around and stuck her tongue at them. They kept laughing, looking all friendly and chummy, and also quite handsome… (Nico had to stop herself from thinking at that point).

For a moment, they seemed to not hate each other. Even if they were laughing at her, they were happy, she noted. She also noticed how Old Lace also seemed to cackle at her. How Klara’s passion made every plant in the room bloom with her joyful sobs. And Molly, beside her, appeared simultaneously girlier and stronger than ever. Nico sighed with relief and bliss, and prepared herself to work the magic. She breathed deeply and with orotund magic in her voice, declared: “IT’S PARTY TIME!”

The room was filled with smoke for a second. Moments later, the furniture had been either rearranged or replaced with surfaces (some tables, some random boxes, one actually was an old T.V. set) chockfull with tasty looking food and drinks, all child-friendly (no alcohol until… later). The ‘altar’ was suddenly gone, and Chase, who had been leaning on it, was now leaning on the floor after a harsh, but short fall. The music changed to a catchy pop song Karo secretly loved, and the girls evidently adored. Klara and Molly jumped unto the dance floor and attempted to dance gracefully. They ended up just skipping around, as if on a sugar rush, even if they hadn’t touched the sweetened goods yet. 

Victor was extremely hungry, so after helping Chase back to his feet (and laughing at him, in good measure), he scuttled to the nearest food station and started chomping mechanically. He felt as if he was programmed to eat everything on sight. Chase joined him after he took a moment to dust himself and gain some of his lost pride by looking somewhat offended. The act sort of fell down when he sneezed because of the thin smoke that still lingered in the air. Before he attended to his food-related ‘manly needs’, Chase slyly approached Nico and whispered in her ear a short congratulation. Something in the lines of: “Good job boss.”

Nico gave him a swift, thankful look and smiled. She then paced to the nearest couch (that wasn’t crammed with food, because some were) and propped herself into it. She closed her eyes, breathe out and the Staff of One vanished into her. When she opened her eyes, she could only see them, the happy couple, waltzing around. The lights were now much softer and the music had mellowed down to a smooth 90s ballad, typical prom stuff.  It matched her mood, as she was unconsciously DJing the playlist.

The newlyweds dance on. Xavin knew she wasn’t much of a dancer; her feet couldn’t do much more than step back and forth to the slow beat of the music. Karo, on the other hand, had enough graceful moves for the both of them, and yet she chose to scarcely move at all. She just swayed with Xavin, matching her appalling dancing. She honestly didn’t care much about anything at that moment; she was intoxicated with bliss. Her arms around Xavin’s neck, Xavin’s round her waist, the music being almost too decadent to be true; it was just right. The oddly pulsating warmth her wedding band seemed to emit was a constant reminder of why she was feeling so infinitely happy.

She was married. To Xavin, the love of her life. Nothing else could possibly matter now. Not in this moment, and not ever again. Right here and right now, everything was perfect. Karo laid her forehead on Xavin’s shoulder and smiled to herself. The tears overcame her.

“Is there something wrong, my love?” Xavin whispered into her ear, her voice small and secretive. No overreaction, just an expressed concern.

Karo softly shook her head and quietly answered: “No. Nothing’s wrong. I just… I love you.”

Xavin leaned her cheek on Karo’s bright hair and sweetly replied on her native language. Skrull wasn’t a nice-sounding language, especially the human ear, nor was it simple, intuitive or even remotely similar any other tongue spoken on Earth. But Karo knew what it meant. In her heart, she always knew. 


	6. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this gives you many feels. :T

Karo sat on the railing of the roof by herself. Her feet dangled softly over the 15-feet fall the ledge provided. Below her spread the sand and the sea for miles and miles. Before her, the beach was eternal, the warmth of summer was constant and the sunset seemed endless.

She was sad, oh so sad. We couldn’t think of a time in her life when she’d felt sadder. Not when she realised she wasn’t quite like the other girls, regarding they fancying of boys, or when she didn’t make the cheerleading squad on  her first time (but totally did her second time round), not even when her parents turned out to be supervillians and her whole life, basically an elaborate lie. Back then she’d felt conflicted, angry, confused, betrayed, dumb and saddened, with a kind of sadness and self-pity that might push you to do _very_ stupid things… And yet, this particularly grim feeling was so much more than that.

No, now Karolina Dean felt shattered and alone and hopeless. She sensed that darkness creeping into her again, and stronger than ever. She hadn’t eaten anything that day, and yet felt sick to her stomach. She was dizzy and the tip of her fingers tingled. Her throat was sore and her cheeks were raw. She literally had no more tears in her.

The sun disappeared under the sea. Karo’s heart sunk with it. She let a short whimper escape her lips as she stood up on the railing, determined to just… finish it all, once and for all.

“Karolina Dean, don’t you dare.”

Karo turned around, expecting Nico to be standing there, on the middle of the roof. Before she could see her, she did notice Nico’s voice sounded mannish. That was, of course, because he who spoke was not, in fact Nico Minoru. It was Chase Stein.

“Karo, hear me out. Please.” Chase approached cautiously with tiny baby steps, his hands raised and reaching forward. Karo could see in his eyes how worried and scared he was. “Would ya, um, get of the ledge? Please? Butnotdownnotdown!” Chase visibly winced. He looked as if he had swatted himself mentally. “Here, to the nice, safe roof. Pretty please?” He added, sugar-coating his words.

He was panting, hyperventilating almost. His hands shook like autumn leaves. Karo felt kind of sorry for him, so she carefully complied, slowing placing a foot back on the roofing. Chase skipped the space between them in a heartbeat and extended his hand to her. She took it, and laid her other foot on secure ground.

Chase gently wrung Karo’s hand and immediately pulled her into an impromptu hug that lasted just long enough for her to hear Chase whisper: “Oh god thanks!” After pulling himself out of the hug, he placed his hands on her shoulders and smiled. Karo suddenly felt a tinny bit better.

“Good… GOOD! You came back to your senses. Excellent! How come, Nico was totally right. I do make an awesome agent during high risk situations.” Ah, the cheeky smile was for himself, of course. Karo grinned, forgetting her ache for a second. Chase was always capable of making her laugh; being one of the most ludicrous guys she had ever met. She even thought of complementing Chase, just for the fun of it, to play along. She did speak after all, but didn’t exactly say what she intended to say.

“What do you mean by that Chase, ‘high risk situation’?” She didn’t mean for it to be a serious question; nevertheless it was. Chase’s smile vanished. So did hers. He gave Karo’s shoulders a little squeeze before he let his hands fall from them. Chase now looked extremely stern and worried, but most of all, solemn.

“You know what I mean, Karo. I’ve been there too.” Karo stared wordlessly at him. She could feel him reading her mind. He understood her pain, his eyes spoke clearly of it. Karo tried looking away, but she simply couldn’t. Chase knew and he wouldn’t let her look away, because if she did, she’d be lost again.

Panic started to build up within her. Her heart was filled with sobs. The sharp pain was back, stronger than ever. She needed air and her chest was closing in, her lungs were collapsing and her throat was narrowing. She couldn’t breathe. Her mouth was shut and she had to scream.

Dismay was upon her. Chase surrounded her with his arms. Karo felt as if her insides were liquefying. Her whole body stirred with disgust and dread. Chase embraced harder and started huffing again. A low mumble of despair and confusion rose from her lips, culminating in a loud, crowning shriek: “Cry! Just cry, for fuck’s sake!”

Karo, once again, complied swiftly. Her first wail was even louder than Chase’s scream, and was loaded with all the pain, devastation and horror she was facing. She buried her face in Chase’s hoodie. Her grip on the fabric was fierce. Then came the tears, as plenty and continuous as they’d come before.

Among shrieks and bawls, her legs gave in. Chase held her as she fell and laid her gently on her knees, never letting her go. He stroked her hair in an instinctively paternal manner and spoke softly into her ear: “Yes, let it all out. Don’t hold back.” And she didn’t. Karo whimpered and bellowed, cursing and screaming words only she could comprehend. Chase just sat with her, holding her close, trying to make her realise she wasn’t alone. “Shh, we’re here for you. That’s all you need to know, it’s all that matters. We’re here, we’re your family and we love you.”

“She loved me too.” Karo murmured amid sobs. Her voice was frail, glass-like. “If she loved me, why did she…” The words ended up shattering in her gullet. Chase just held her tightly, knowing that in time, her sorrow would recede. He remained silent and waited, for as long as he had to.


End file.
